Final answer:
Gustation is the sensation of taste, sensed through taste receptor cells on the tongue that recognize at least five distinct tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. Recent studies suggest a sixth taste for fats. Both taste and smell deliver chemical information from the environment to the brain.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term ‘gustation’ refers to the sensation of taste, which is a chemical sense. Taste buds on the tongue contain receptors that detect five recognized tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. Umami, identified in the mid-1980s, means “delicious taste” in Japanese and is often associated with a savory flavor. Moreover, recent research indicates the possibility of a sixth taste related to the sensation of fats or lipids. Smell (olfaction) is closely related to taste as both sense environmental stimuli using chemical receptors.
Taste buds are not covered in saliva but are actually located on the papillae of the tongue. These buds consist of individual taste receptor cells which transmit information to the nerves, resulting in the generation of nerve impulses to the brain that are perceived as taste. Signals relating to both gustation and olfaction are transmitted through the medulla of the brain.